NISD’s facility growth stimulating the construction market

The Northside Independent School District is in the process of pursuing an ambitious school construction agenda designed to keep pace with its continuing enrollment growth.

Currently the school district (NISD) has five schools as well as a specialized academy in the construction pipeline, slated to come online in the summer of 2010. The projects together command a construction price tag of some $201.2. million.

The schools include one high school, one middle school and three elementary schools. The construction cost of the schools — totaling some $193.4 million — is being funded by proceeds from bonds approved in 2007.

One of the elementary schools already under construction — Martin Elementary School — will be the district’s first elementary school to be built inside Loop 410 since 1980. It will also be the district’s first official green school.

Construction of the school is projected to cost $19.3 million, including $200,000 to cover the cost of applying for and meeting LEED environmental certification. That cost, district officials say, will be offset by savings on utility bills.

LEED (or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is a green building rating system for environmentally sustainable construction developed by the Washington, D.C.-based U.S. Green Building Council.

The elementary school will feature more natural vegetation and less grass than other schools, more natural light and overhangs on windows to provide shade to help keep the school cool inside. The new school also will be equipped with insulated windows and an energy-efficient heating and air conditioning system.

Industry demand

In addition to the new schools, NISD is also adding a 42,129-square-foot expansion to the existing Warren High School. The expansion, dubbed the Construction Careers Academy, will include classrooms and specialized spaces, or shops, focused on the following disciplines: construction, electrical, HVAC, plumbing/pipe fitting and architecture.

Construction costs for the new academy are estimated at $7.8 million. The academy’s program is slated to launch this fall, with 120 freshman students enrolled, and will be housed temporarily at the existing Warren High School facility.

NISD spokesman Pascual Gonzalez, says construction industry executives have made it clear to NISD that there was a great demand in the construction industry for skilled tradesman.

“As a result of that feedback and citizen input, the magnet school (the Construction Careers Academy) has become a reality,” Gonzalez says.

Growing pains

Gonzalez says the school district continues to be the “destination district” for Bexar County, adding that almost 50 percent of all single-family homes being built in the city fall within the district’s boundaries.

“Northside struggles to keep up with the growth, but manages to open an average of 200 brand new classrooms each year,” Gonzalez says. “This is what is required to provide classrooms for 2,500 to 3,000 new students each year.”

Gonzalez says NISD, which is the fourth largest public school system in Texas, expects close to 91,000 students to enroll in its schools this fall.

Even this number, he says, could be surpassed as early registration indicates above average numbers.

The district encompasses 355 square miles and extends into Bandera and Medina counties.

The school district already plans to open four new schools this month — one middle school and three elementary schools — that together cost $97.3 million to build.

Gonzalez says families are drawn to NISD because of the diversity of the area’s neighborhoods, its affordability, and because of the district’s high-quality, high-achieving schools.

Furthermore, he says, the district has a very supportive community that approves bond issues to address the continuing growth.

“Taxpayers trust that the school district will do what it says with the monies entrusted to it,” Gonzalez says. “NISD values this trust and strives each day to live up to that expectation.”

Despite the support, Gonzalez says the growth has put a severe strain on NISD’s budget because the state does not fully fund school education “as required by law.”

“NISD’s growth alone this coming year will cost over $25 million,” he explains.

The district hired an additional 400 new teachers this summer and is exploring the possibility of a bond election in May 2010 to build more schools and renovate others, Gonzalez adds.

Also, he says the school district has to continually redraw individual school boundaries to accommodate swelling enrollments — a process that involves a series of public hearings.

“Portables are also on the move every summer as we shift classrooms to meet needs across the district,” he adds.

Suzanne Marchman, spokeswoman for the Texas Education Agency, says larger districts often have a more diverse student population and larger numbers of economically disadvantaged students.

“In addition, the mobility rate in urban school districts is often much higher than suburban or rural districts. All of those factors can make it more challenging for large districts,” Marchman says.

She adds that other challenges include teacher retention and keeping pace with facilities expansion and improvements.